Both the number of unemployed people in the state and the unemployment rate are the lowest since February 2009.

From Springfield and its neighboring communities, the state received 320 applications from people seeking emergency unemployment benefits as a result of the June 1 tornadoes, state Labor Secretary Joanne F. Goldstein said Thursday in a phone interview. That’s fewer than were expected, Goldstein said.

City-by-city unemployment statistics for June won’t be available until Tuesday.

“We created just enough jobs to not decrease the unemployment rate,” said Petrick said.

What’s more, national statistics show that companies are not increasing overtime for existing workers or hiring temporary workers in high numbers.

“Those are all the things companies do before they hire,” Petrick said. “They are not hiring because they are worried about demand.”

Thursday, the U.S. Department of Labor said that new claims for unemployment benefits rose 10,000 across the country to a seasonally adjusted 418,000. The four-week average, a less volatile measure, dipped to 421,250. Applications have topped 400,000 for 15 weeks, a sign of sluggish hiring.

“Clearly, we don’t want to see any job cuts, especially in Springfield,” Goldstein said.

The state’s Rapid Response Team will help laid-off workers find new jobs, Goldstein said. But she didn’t yet know what professions and job descriptions were cut.

Ellis S. “Bud” Delphin, director of programs and services at CareerPoint career center in Holyoke said demand is high for skilled health-care workers, including nurses and technicians. He’s also seeing high demand for skilled machinists who can operate computer-controlled machines in a precision-manufacturing environment.